Red Noel
by tdhdsstgf
Summary: Noel is not a good person. With a shy, cute demeanor one might feel sorry for her -it seems her world consipres against her, so it isn't hard to feel sorry. Nonetheless, her moral compass is broken, and her future is as red as the uniform she wears. Would you like to see how she does when displaced in time and space? It stands by itself, but one could keep adding chapters.


RED=NOEL

* * *

 **N** oel opened her eyes to the darkness of a ship's cargo hold. There was no illumination  
other than the light polution of nearby Kagutsuchi streaming in through the portholes, so she had  
to move carefully to avoid waking the subject of her mischief. Captain Hazama was slouched against  
the wall and sitting on crate nearby, fast asleep with his hat over his eyes.  
 **T** he cargo hold was filled with similar crates, to the point at which a person walking from  
one side to the other would have difficulty finding a dignified route, and the ropes and tarps  
holding the cargo in place threatened to rustle loudly in response to a vertical approach.  
Fortunately, the rushing air and rumbling engines made this less of a concern to Noel, though her  
red uniform kept riding up as she slid through narrow gaps -she was glad that no one was present  
to stand witness.  
 **U** pon using a ladder situated in the far corner of the cargo hold, she was made acutely  
aware of the slightly warmer air that sat stilly in the confined passways. She hugged herself for  
a moment to savour the warmer air, then headed in the direction of the nearest engine car; she  
turned a corner and stopped short upon seeing a glowing sign that demarcated the car's threshold,  
and entered a nearby closet in search of a tool to misuse.  
" **Y** ou look cold. Looking for a blanket?" Noel started, and looked over her shoulder to see  
Hazama standing behind her -it was too dark to see clearly, and he was facing down the hall  
instead of looking at her directly. She discretely replaced a bottle of high-strength glue on its  
shelf. "N-no, the poncho is -I mean I'm...awwww..." Hazama frowned and snapped her out of it,  
"Actually, nevermind. I was just getting hungry so I followed you out, but you didn't go to the  
mess afterall." She looked at him expectantly for a moment, and he pointedly turned his head  
towards her. "Ah! Yes!... Sir!"  
 **H** e took a step back to clear some space and she walked out of the closet, but stopped  
after just a few timid steps in an arbitrary direction and looked over her shoulder. Hazama,  
failing to understand, simply nodded supportively. Noel took this to mean she was walking in the  
correct direction and continued more purposefully, though the conflicting knowledge that he was  
behind her and had been for an indefinite amount of time, and that she couldn't feel his eyes on  
her made her uneasy. "I had thought you were asleep," Hazama idly commented, "you really surprised  
me there." "Who could sleep in that cold!" she snapped, and stopped in the middle of the corridor  
to consider her own words -Hazama simply waited paitently until she started walking again.  
 **T** hey continued like this until their aimless wandering brought them to the ship's aft, and  
Hazama commented, "Pardon me, but isn't this the opposite of our intended destination?" Noel  
opened her mouth to convey a number of things, and failed to vocalize anything other than a  
squeak. Hazama simply patted her on the head, "I'm sure you tried very hard. I can probably find  
the dining room from here, so just follow me." It was in this moment that Noel's intent for  
mischief escalated to murderous.  
 **I** n order to reach the Dining area near the bow, the shortest route involved a walkway that  
went over the cargo hold before turning downwards, and it was at this staircase leading into the  
front gondola that Noel took advantage of her position behind Hazama to push her superior to some  
sort of unfortunate accident. In a manner similar to her spiteful decision the world responded to  
this with deadly playfullness, which took the form of Hazama assuming she was attempting to reach  
the refridgerator before him -he smiled to himself, overwhelmed with fatherly affection for his  
childish subordinate, and helpfully stepped to the side to allow her passage. As Noel's needlessly  
forceful push became a headfirst-dive she turned her head to avert a face-first landing, and it was  
at this time while she was sailing through the air that she finally realized her superior had never  
opened his eyes the entire time -his face illuminated by a dim guide-light being the last thing she  
ever saw.  
 **T** here were many factors involved in what happened next, involving a special part of Noel's  
brain, that a human without her rare origin would not have, being stimulated as her head was struck  
against a step -a collision whose speed was enhanced by Hazama attempting to catch her foot far  
too late- and to a greater extent the explosion triggered in Kagutsuchi whose origins allowed it  
to have a very real effect on space and time itself. However, this process is not important and  
unworthy of being told. Something of only slightly greater worth is the effect it had on this red-  
clad Noel, which was to transport her to a much more dominant reality whose manner was replicated  
by the majority of other realities; an extremely improbable Noel had been transplanted into a much  
more conventional world, and the forces that reacted to her tendencies no longer existed here.

* * *

 **T** he road was hard and cold against her face. The red and white uniform by itself was much  
too cold and every of several large patches of exposed skin became a source for shivers, though her  
long black hair let-down warmed her neck, at least. Where were her hat and poncho? A hand at her  
shoulder drew Noel's torso off of the gritty cobblestone, and she fell naturally into a sitting  
position as a second disembodied arm joined the first to wrap her in a hug -she was thankful at  
first for the warmth, and it was only when those arms began unzipping her dress that Noel was  
suddenly alarmed, jolted from her grogginess and made instantly quite sober.  
" **W** -wh-what the fuuuuuuck?!" Noel jumped to her feet and dexterously spun while prancing  
away from the disturbingly assertive woman. "Oh my... where did you get a spare...? Well, that's  
okay, it's all fun..." Noel clenched her toes to conserve warmth and hugged herself, and doing so  
became aware of her boots and sleeves -or rather their absence. The woman before her was of figure so  
perfect it was irritating, and possessed a respectable look and manner despite her clothing which  
defied the weather -that said, the woman was flushed in the face and having trouble keeping her  
balance while simply standing still, while carrying various bits of eccentric clothing. Coming off  
her gaurd just as quickly as she was set on alert, Noel's gaze wandered further past the various bits  
of colourful clothing to her equally vibrant and unusual surroundings.  
 **N** oel stood in the middle of an empty cobblestone street among houses of a very old  
construction which emenated warmth and density, while skeletal structures carried staircases up into  
the ceiling of an all-encompassing cavern, whose subtle wind brought focus back to her current  
predicament by playing at the edges of her dress-like uniform.  
" **O** h, relax... if you're so tired, why don't you come back to my clinic? I'll serve you  
something tasty if you try on a few of these outfits, hehe... it's no good running until you drop  
-that's dangerous!" The woman comically fell into an emphasized crouch and started forwards, pulling  
a playfully villanous look. "Bolverk!" Noel's hands traced magic circles in the air, and an oversized  
handgun fell neatly into the palm of either hand, though any impressive effect this created was  
greatly diminished by her awkward posture; she tried to pull the zipper on her dress downwards with  
her thumb and forefinger, but the quick and clumsy motion only got the tab caught just below her bust  
line.  
 **N** oel gave up and pointed both weapons forward, "stop right now, or I'll shoot!" The woman  
simply smiled. "Oh really...? I can see you're not wearing any underwear, unless it's made out of  
air. If you fire now, the rush of air will leave you exposed! *ahem* Literally." And indeed, the  
zipper that permitted egress into poor Noel's uniform was placed in between the peices which made up  
front and left in the dress, and closed downwards. Therefore, the woman standing before her could  
clearly see everything from the top of Noel's left leg up to the bottom of her chest. It was unfair,  
but the battle was already lost before it began, for only gravity allowed the seperated peices of  
Noel's dress to cling near their intended positions. "Ahh-wai-N-not so fast! I have two guns, but I  
only need to shoot one!" Noel placed her left arm over the front of her dress, holding it in  
position. The drunken woman faltered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and attempted  
to retort.  
 **T** he retort failed for two reasons. The first was that she had not actually though of  
something to say. The second was that -unrestricted- Noel no longer had any use for diplomacy, and by  
then her mind had caught up with this fact. A shot was loosed immediatly, and by way of complicated  
technology and magic it found its way through dimensions, appearing in the corporeal realm as the  
round exploded inside the space previously occupied by a tipsy doctor of various fields.  
 **U** nfortunatly Noel's disposition was opposed to head-on confrontation, and she was found  
lacking in various regards; the most prominent of which was the ability to fire a gun with her eyes  
open. Thus, the woman needn't have ducked under the muzzle flash to disguise her charge, nor  
augmented her speed with unearthly force -though she did, and her hands found their way to Noel's  
chest. Danger past, drunkenness once again clouded the assertive woman's mind, and both aggresor and  
victim fell to the ground.  
 **T** he woman's rough grip made Noel squeal and drop her guns, which dissipated at once. Noel's  
hands were instead employed in covering herself, and she lithely twisted to escape and turn her  
vulnerable parts away. At this point, she couldn't open her eyes against reflex anymore, and so she  
could only defend blindly. Despite her best efforts, Noel couldn't get out from under the woman, as  
her wide hips were trapped below the woman's thighs. A hand found its way under her uniform through  
the large gap created by its zipper, fingers reaching across her body and thumb gripping her thin  
side, Noel was held firmly with her back flat to the ground while another hand worked the zipper un-  
stuck and stripped away the dress.  
 **T** here she lie wearing nothing but socks in the middle of an empty street that ran through the  
farthest town from ordinary city life. It was at this point that Noel simply gave up, alowing the  
drunken woman to dress her in something strange while considering her lot in life, not to mention  
wondering what on earth had brought her to this time, place, and embarassment.

* * *

 **L** itchi smiled and placed a large hat on the head of a thoroughly exhausted Noel with smug  
and comical grace. The later continued to stare downward dejectedly, her current clothing  
possessing less combined mass than the pirate-themed hat alone. "You look so cute! I wish I had a  
camera. See? This wasn't so bad at all." "Can I have my clothes back now?" Litchi laughed. "What's  
the point in that? Don't worry, I'll give them back when I'm done." It was good for Noel that her  
face pointed downwards and that Litchi's perception was diminished, as her expression at this  
moment was best kept to herself for a variety of reasons.  
" **W** here did you put my uniform?" She asked while remaining motionless. Litchi, having  
various bits on her person while others were strewn about, looked around herself breifly. By the  
time she faced Noel to answer, the subject of torment had already vanished.  
 **N** oel trode gently down a narrow alley that snaked between houses, lamenting the impractical  
footwear that slowed her pace and fighting the anxiety of having... that woman... at her back. Upon  
reaching the next open street, she looked carefully around to see if her pursuer had occupied the  
next open space in order to reaquire her there; seeing nothing threatening from her cursory recon,  
she set her brightly coloured hat down at the corner so as to give little indication to her  
direction of flight, and ran across the street to the next alley; with buildings close by to mask  
noise and distance between her and the tipsy molester, Noel broke into a run and darted through  
alleys until satisfied.  
 **J** ust as she was running out of breath, Noel began looking for a likely hiding spot. Her  
footsteps slowing and chest aching, she didn't turn her nose up when coming across a rusted old  
dumpster, and crawled inside -anything was better than having to submit to an alchoholic  
breast-monster once more; at this point, spite most strongly occupied her mind. The dumpster was  
completely empty, save a single pile of trash in one corner. "Does this district even have garbage  
removal...?" she thought. Despite the lack of trash, she sat on her haunches and tilted her head  
forwards to prevent her hair from touching anything, and attempted to find some sort of inner  
peace.  
 **N** oel began chewing on her thumb and tried to imagine the doctor in all kinds of aweful  
situations in order to distract attention from her legs which were falling alseep from the  
pressure, picking a fatal fall as her favorite for its realism; she only noticed her own muttering  
when someone else's vocalization interupted the fantasy -"um..." said a tiny voice. Noel froze and  
fell silent, momentarily consumed by embarrassment; her mind suddenly filled with self-conscious  
simulations of the other girl's perspective. "S-s-sorry!" she squeaked, thankful of the darkness to  
disguise her trembling and heated face, but the other girl's next phrase cut into the apology -  
"uh-I n-need to pee!" Noel looked up at what she had mistaken for a pile of trash; a girl wearing  
only a strange, oversized beige coat with hood and paw-like sleeve-ends and high-socked boots was  
standing to open the dumpster, shyly looking over her shoulder as if fearing retribution.  
 **I** t was at this point Noel's thoughts finally turned away from defense to consider the  
implications of the other girl's presence, but those thoughts were quickly dashed aside when the  
light played across the other girl's face as she rose out of the dumpster. Noel's arm shot out,  
desperation and sadism rising in her bosom like a balloon in a hurricane to accelerate her thoughts  
for the sake of getting the drop on her poor doppelganger -her heart heavy for just a moment with  
the coming realization that it was her own mental faculties she would be so easily circumventing.  
" **C** over your eyes!" ordered Noel with false earnesty, riding her feeling to lend realism to  
her acting. At the same time, she firmly grasped the other Noel's shoulders and pulled her  
backwards onto her own lap. The blonde-haired lookalike tried to fight her while making noises that  
didn't constitute proper speech; "Isn't someone chasing you? You need to cover your eyes!" The  
blonde Noel faltered for a moment, and the noirette Noel darted for the oversized coat's zipper, her  
hands roughly searhing the front of her prey's body in the darkness. "Hurry! Cover them!" With a  
dejected whine the restrained Noel put her hands in front of her face, "not again..."  
 **F** inished, the clothed Noel stripped and threw her clothes to the other in the dark -"You  
should wear these, they'll really help you get away." "I don't understaaaand..." The blonde Noel  
dressed quickly and exited the dumpster, teary eyed. With a slouched figure she began to walk away,  
but the dark-haired spirit of mischief helpfully redirected her in the direction of the tipsy  
doctor.  
" **U** m... th-...thanks." Said the one on route for misery. "It's my pleasure!" answered the one  
in need of karmic retribution from beneath her coat's low hood, a shamelessly innocent smile all  
that was visible.

* * *

 **N** oel watched her lookalike's back disappear in a uniform direction, naively trusting the  
path laid out; she was beside herself with glee, experiencing perpetual surprise in every moment  
that no hand of god came to strike her down. After a time, she surpressed this feeling to  
concentrate on seeing herself all the way to a winning position. "I should go before something  
changes..." she caught herself thinking aloud again; a quick look about herself was made to see if  
anyone was watching.  
 **H** er eyes fixated on a pair of red lights shining from inside a house's window nearby -low  
near the window's sill, which was itself situated a bit higher that eye height. It was only after  
the voices of children floated to her ears that Noel's eyes were able to resolve a tiny hood like  
her own housing a pair of eyes; a child wearing their own oversized coat was staring from no more  
than a metre away with eyes shining red, and exchanging whispers with other unseen companions. More  
eyes appeared at other windows, and the whispering grew to an indecipherable din. Face becoming  
heated, Noel could no longer bear to be so obviously aware that she was the center of attention,  
and she turned to flee.  
" **U** uuunnh, how do I get out of this place?" She remembered the skeletal structures she had  
taken in earier, and their staircases that reached into the ceiling. Judging by the cavernous  
space that this village seemed to occupy, even Noel could deduce that she was several levels under-  
neath Kagutsuchi's ordinarily inhabited areas. Her eyes found the nearest of these structures that  
lay ahead of her, and she adjusted direction to make the shortest way to it. The entire  
neighbourhood was somehow waking up at once, like a beast roused from slumber. When the lights  
began to fade out into the distance, she was at first only thankful. "Don't go there." Came the  
faint ring of a shout from behind her, that yet sounded bored.  
 **W** ithout any buildings to break the gale, nor warm bodies and fires to heat the air, Noel  
was suddenly chilled in the darkness; what lay between her and the ascention structure was a few  
hundred metres of darkness and assorted junk strewn about. She felt a pang of sadness for a reason  
that she couldn't place, but found comfort in her outfit's surprising warmth and practicality. The  
yards ahead seemed much longer than they did a moment ago, but there were no other ways up that  
didn't involve trekking back through the village for a much greater distance; Noel pressed on after  
a long pause, walking slowly to avoid twisting an ankle in the mess of rubish that became its own  
new floor.  
 **A** calm set in Noel's mind -both exhaustion and mild depression weighing her back while all  
reasons for haste had dissappeared. She climbed slowly, debaucherously using up time without  
keeping track of it. Her thoughts instead turned to crafting the best fantasy-telling of her  
predicament, but nothing came -she could not even remember how her situation had come to be. She  
did notice immedietly, however, the footsteps of another on the scaffold -hurried to the point of a  
run, and loud enough to echo. Anxiety reared its head once more, and Noel considered wether she  
should be worried about her attire, which did not match her race.  
 **S** he sneaked a look over her shoulder as the person ascended behind her, and the sight  
caused her eyes to go wide. "N-no waaay," she covered her mouth and turned fore, trying to appear  
nonchalant with a slow walk. "Freeze!" said the other as they crested the height difference. "I am  
Second Lieutenant Noel Vermillion of the Praetorian Gaurd, of the Novus Orbs Lib- Orbis Librarium!  
*breath* and you are under arrest for... ... interfering with an offi- the duties of an officer!"  
She hadn't wanted to believe it, but the hooded girl had to acknowledge now -the girl behind her  
was more than a lookalike. More than that, broken memories seemed to grant her less right to the  
name "Noel" than the one at her back, who was now clad in a blue uniform which looked exactly like  
the red one that had been lost.  
 **T** he noirette thought about her situation briefly, then bolted farther up the stairs, which  
were arranged in a stack with each staircase lying atop the one below, with a flat section linking  
them head to tail. The length of the flattened sections and stair sections was not long, so escaping  
the blonde's gun was a simple as staying one section ahead. The fleeing girl was relying on her  
pursuer being identical in every way -with the exception of her exhaustion. She was dismayed, then,  
to find the exhausted one still keeping pace -if anything, she was catching up. The noirette calmed  
herself, and decided to wait out the other's stamina; so she planned, but then the stairs she  
climbed began to rattle with someone else's weight. A look over her shoulder revealed justice not a  
hair's breadth away.  
" **W** hy? This makes no sense!" The noirette planted her next foot firmly above herself on the  
stair, and tried to grab her counterpart with leverage on her side -she was rewarded with a bootheel  
to the face that sent her staggaring backwards, both from pain and dizzyness, as well the sheer force  
that reversed her stance far enough to place her off balance. Her back touched the railing, and with  
vision betraying her the noirette's mind seized upon one last desperate plan.  
 **S** he fell backwards over the railing, counting upon her better self's goodness. Concentrating  
on a realistic portrayal, she managed to override her reflexes right up until her back touched wall,  
and her legs suddenly hooked on the railing -signals sent from a mind locked up with survival  
instinct. "Kyaaaaaah!" arms locked around her waist from above, finally; her mind was freed up again,  
and she looked towards her chest -even through darkness, dizzyness, and the blood from her nose than  
ran back up her face, she could clearly see the blonde Noel's face up by her own hips. "It's too bad  
that I can't see your expression."  
"Huh?"  
"Bolverk!"  
 **N** oel jammed the summoned hand-cannon against her immobilized savior until it was flush against  
something, then pulled the trigger -she was rewarded with a fine mist of blood and the smell of  
burning flesh, which was followed first by more viscious blood and small bits of gore that rained  
down her body, staining it red. What came second was a pitiful whine as the other Noel's body was  
quickly drained of strength -this placed all of her body weight on the bottom one's knees and  
threatened to drag her the rest of the way to her death. "Waaahh!? No! I don't want to die like this,  
this is reeeally grosssss!" she uttered, then spat as blood ran into her mouth from above. Noel  
struggled to lift herself back into the platform, but her arms couldn't reach the railing and her  
abdominal muscles weren't nearly strong enough to overcome the weight -especially from a fully  
extended position. Before long she was out of strength, and her head was hurting from hanging upside  
down. "Nooo..." She felt something give, and her body hung limp.  
 **W** ith no blood flowing past her knees, her legs had gone numb and weak; she lifted her head  
towards her chest, closing mouth and eyes tight against the dripping blood -it was less unpleasant at  
this point than the pressure in her skull. Noel giggled at the realization that she could no longer  
move her legs enough to let herself fall, and was rewarded with a mouthfull of blood. A deathly calm  
had set in, and she began to grow bored; She tried to free herself by yanking on the corpse that lay  
against her, only to be met with resistance and a quiet whine. "Oh? You're not dead..." The majority  
of the blonde girl's body weight was still on the safe side of the railing, while her waist was draped  
over the threshold -this allowed her to remain stuck fast by resisting only lateral force, which Noel  
could hardly apply in her position. Taking advantage of the calm, Noel thought about how she could move  
the body.  
 **A** fter hanging limp in contentment for a while, she gripped the body under the arms and pushed  
upwards -it moved a bit, grip ineffective against this motion. From there, Noel managed to push it back  
into the platform a bit. Repeating the motion, she managed to move the body as far back that it was  
mostly out of arm's reach. Unobstructed, she could now grab the bottom of her thighs; using her arms and  
core together she pulled herself upwards and grabbed the railing, forcing the limp body so that it fell  
and folded back into safety. Noel hung onto the calm in her mind even as she supressed an ecstatic  
feeling and hauled her own body into a similar position.  
 **R** eveling in the simple luxury of living for a spell was now a luxery that Noel could  
afford. She lazily looked to the limp body that was her companion, and listened -breathing, along  
with a near inaudible whining like a puppy that has long since realized its way won't be had, but  
hasn't given up being obstinant yet. This, despite a large hole in the girl's chest. "Why aren't  
you dying?" She imagined finishing the limp form off with a gunshot, but the accompanying blood-  
spray seemed even less desirable than getting up to move at that moment. Leave it here? The  
staircase obviously saw little use, but anyone using it would surely discover a corpse. If she  
left her clothing, then one of those red-eyed things would be blamed, but the face... it would  
be horrible for someone to find a dead clone. And disfiguring the girl came back to the original  
problem... Noel felt a bit of pity and respect for her still-living victim, and this combined with  
both procrastination and an unwillingness to blow apart a body in close-quarters to prod a plan  
into action -she would carry the girl into the interstice between the strange village and the  
ordinary city that she hoped lay above, and discard it along with her bloodied clothes.  
" **A** wwwww... this is really gross... uunnhhh..." as she climbed the stairs, they seemed to  
stretch on forever; her whining never ceased for a moment.


End file.
